Improvement in aerial railroads



UNITED STATES PATENT RICHARD MONTGOMERY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

Y IMPROVEMENT IN AERIAL RAILROADS.

I Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 57,949, datedSeptember 1l, 1866.

To all whom it may concern:

Beit known that I, RICHARD MONTGOMERY,

of the city, county, and State of New York,

have invented a new and useful Improvement in Aerial Railroads; and I dohereby declare that the following is a ful and exact descriptionthereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to theletters of reference marked thereon.

On Plate I, Figure 1 is a representation, in elevation, of a double lineof tracks, one above the other. Fig. 2 is a view ot' the same, seentransverse to the line of 1the direction of the road 5 Fig. 3 and 4t,details of certain parts of the structure.

On Plate II, Fig. 1 is a vertical, and Fig. 2 a horizontal, view of thebeam or cross-tie, in which the beam or cross-tie is curved instead otflat, as seen in Fig. 1, Plate I. Fig. 3 is a View in elevation, using acurved beam as a support when the structure is intended to extend partlyover the carriage-way and footwalk. Fig. A is a view of a similar kindsupported upon a vertical column.

In all these figures like letters refer to like parts.

The object of my invention is the construction ot' a strong, light, andcheap aerial railroad by the use of corrugated beams of iron or othermetal. i

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I willproceed to describe its construction and operation.-

In Fig. l, Plate I, I show an elevated view of this road with twodouble-track roadways, one above the other. The objectof this double wayis to accommodate the wants ofthe publie, so that, while one road shallsupply the requirements ot' those who need to travel but shortdistances, the other will suit those who have much longer distances totravel without stopping. In other words, one of these lines may be usedas an accommodation-train, while the other, having fewer stoppages tomake between its termini, and therefore capable ot' ruiming at higherspeed, may be called the express-train.77 It is not material which ofthelines maybe used for each purpose; but, in genera-1,1 think it will befound that the lower line is best adapted to the accommodationtrain andthe upper for the express.

Ina patent granted me, dated the 21st of other material, in which toinsert and by which I support the lower end of the column. When thesuperstructure or cross-tie rests, as shown in that patent, directlyupon the upper end ot' a straight upright column, this kind offoundation, though not the best, will answer; but when, as in my presentimprovement, the vertical column ot" .support is curved over, so as tomake its upper extremity become the horizontal cross-tie, it is evident,upon well-known mechanical principles, that a mere square block wouldnot receive the line of pressure in a proper direction to give thatrigidity and steadiness of'support to the mass above Vwhich thecircumstances ot' the case require. To obviate this objection to thesquare block, and as near as possible give the requisite support to theparts above, I make t-hc block, which is represented in the figures bythe letter A, in the form of a parallelopipedon entire, or with itsupper surface beveled,

as shown in the figure. The base of the column being secured in thisnear one end ot` this block, the other stretches inward to a greater orless extent.

B is a section of the street or roadway, and shows how and about wherethe blocks should be buried. Ordinarily I prefer to place them so thatthe column C will be about a foot inside the curb-stone; but they may bevaried to suit thejudgment of the builder.

rPhe column C is constructed in the same manner as described in mypatent referred to, dated February 21, 1865, for improvement inrailroads 5Y but instead of being straight and vertical, as describedand shown in that patent, it is gradually' curved or bent over until itblends with, or, more properly speaking, becomes the horizontal part Oor crosstie. rPhe mode of making this curve or bilge is fully set forthin my patent for improvement in apparatus for bending corrugated platesot' metal, dated 3d day of Julie, 1862. 0n the horizontal portion orcross-tie C the rails for the cars are laid, as seen at D D.

It is, ofcourse, understood that the columns C C stand directly oppositeeach other, one on UEETE.

each side of the street or roadway B. When the street or roadway is nottoo wide the horizontal portions or cross-ties C C may be extended untilthey meet, as shown in Fig. l, Plate I, and their ends firmly securedtogether, as shown and described in my patent for improvement inrailroads heretofore referred to, or by insertinga small section ofcorrugated beam into the grooves of the approximated ends of C C andsecuring them by bolts, as seen at Fig. 3, Plate I, or otherwise.

When the street or roadway is too wide, or for any other reason it maynot be desirable to have a continuous line across it, these two ends ofthe horizontal part or cross-tie may not be brought into apposition, butso far removed from each other as to leave an open space between them 5and if, at any subsequent period, it should be desirable to have acontinuous connection between them-as, for instance, in makingadditional tracks-then this can be done by simply introducing a sectionof the beam of the required length to cover this space.

In Figs. l and 2, Plate II, I have shown a double-curved form for thecross-tie portion, and this forni may be used instead of thatrepresented in Fig. 1, Plate I; o'r it may be the form given toan'interposed piece between C C when these two are not in the firstinstance brought into apposition. From actual experiment I have foundthat when a beam is thus curved it resists vertical pressure to a muchgreater extent than when it remains in a perfectly horizontal linethroughout.

In my patent, heretofore referred to, for improvement in railroads Ihave shown a drawing and described a structure (Fig. 5 of that patent)to be erected on a single series of columns on each side of the street.In that casethc cross-ties have no connection with each other across thestreet or roadway, and are supported directly upon the vertical column,with arms extending from the vertical column at an angle therewith to ornear the outer end ofthe cross-ties.

Following out the idea of the construction as set forth in describingFig. l of Plate I in this specification, I propose to modify thisstructure as seen and represented in Fig. 3 of Plate II. In this case Icurve the upper end of the column, as I have described in explaining theorganization ofFiO. l, Plate I, supporting it, if necessary, by an arm,as shown in the drawings, and on this apply another piece of thecorrugated beam, which serves not only the purpose of a cross-tie forthe support of the rails, but, by extension in the other direction,gives support to a platform over the walk or pavement.

In Fig. 4, Plate II, I show a further modification of the aforesaid Fig.5 in my patent for improvement in railroads, by placing the railetrackentirely on one side of the line of the' vertical column, giving theother side thereof entirely for the footway, and supporting the wholeupon the elongated base-block A, as shown in the preceding drawings.

After what has been said and shown in the drawings, the construction andarrangement of the parts composing the upper track (shown on Figs. l and2 of Plate I) can be readily appreciated. A portion of corrugated beam,after having been properly secured at its lower extremity to the columnC, rises vertically to the height required to give free passage to thecars on the lower track, then curves over, asin the arrangement below,and forms the crosstie or horizontal piece for the rece )tion of therails, and is united to its opposite fellow crosstie or not, as the casemay be, precisely as was described in giving the arrangement for thelower track.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim therein, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is thefollowing: p

l. The construction of an aerial railroad with two tracks, one above theother, substantially as described.

2. The construction of the horizontalportion or cross-ties of an vaerialrailroad in the form of a double curve, substantially as shown in Fig.2, Plate Il, and in the ina-nner herein described.

3. The construction of an aerial road upon a Asingle column,substantially as shown in Fig. 3, Plate II, and in the manner hereindescribed.

RIGHARD MONTGOMERY.

